Be a Game Changer and Help Water Street Studios Win a $25,000 Grant

The Art Flow program will provide a high quality artistic experience for all of the students in our community.

The Art Flow program will provide a high quality artistic experience for all of the students in our community. (Posted By info00531, Community Contributor)

info00531, Community Contributor

Batavia, IL (April 4, 2013) – Water Street Studios, a not-for-profit art center located in Batavia, recently answered the call from State Farm to submit causes that would have a positive impact in their community. Now WSS needs your “assist” by voting their cause to the top and bringing $25,000 to their outstanding community outreach arts education program that serves Batavia, St. Charles, Geneva and Aurora. From April 4 through April 22, anyone who has the free State Farm Neighborhood Assist™ Facebook application can vote for ART FLOW. https://apps.facebook.com/sf_neighbor_assist/cause/3425/art-flow Remember, you can cast 10 votes per day!

It is the mission of WSS to create a personal and diverse venue for creativity, collaboration, expression and education. ART FLOW continues the mission of Water Street Studios by providing quality free art education to students and women who have financial need or who are under-served in our community. Professional ART FLOW artists teach every week at shelters, low-income housing, community organizations, and Water Street Studios. With additional funding Water Street Studios can expand Art Flow by offering advanced art instruction in printmaking, photography, digital art, ceramics, and metal work.

Over 3,000 submissions were received through State Farm Neighborhood Assist, a youth-led philanthropic program that empowers communities to identify issues in their neighborhood. At least one cause was received from every eligible state, district and province in the United States and Canada. Then, the State Farm Youth Advisory Board, a diverse group of 30 students between the ages of 17 and 20 who are passionate about social responsibility, reviewed the cause submissions and selected the 200 finalists based on the criteria they submitted.

Once the Youth Advisory Board selected the top 200, the program connected each cause with a local nonprofit that can help solve the problem. Forty-three states and Canadian provinces have causes in the top 200.

ART FLOW/Water Street Studios has until April 22 to rally votes, with anyone voting allowed up to 10 votes per day. On April 29, the top 40 vote-receiving causes will be announced on the Facebook app and a $25,000 grant will be awarded to the affiliated nonprofits.